World Breaking News

Posted May 14, 2017 10:00:37 New South Wales hopeful Tom Trbojevic may be ruled out of State of Origin contention after sustaining potentially season-ending knee and ankle injuries in Manly's 24-14 loss to Brisbane on Saturday night. Full-back Trbojevic was helped off the field with his Origin dream, and possibly season, in tatters after he fell awkwardly trying to catch a bomb in the 64th minute of what was the second match of a double-header at Lang Park. Earlier in the evening, Blues supporters were given a scare when Jarryd Hayne was injured late in Gold Coast's thrilling 38-36 victory over Melbourne in the opening match. Hayne, however, was a relieved figure after he was diagnosed with nerve damage in his knee, meaning he should be available for the Titans next week. The major concern for Blues selectors, however, is the condition of Trbojevic, with Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett fearing the worst. "He could be gone for the year, I don't know," Barrett said. "The ankle is the … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 09:39:17 They are the women taking a blowtorch to barriers and a saw to stereotypes, but even in 2017 tradeswomen are pioneers, making up less than 2 per cent of Australia's electricians, carpenters and mechanics. Some state and territory governments are looking to intervene to help boost that number while also removing discrimination and incorrect perceptions. But the message from the women on the ground is clear: they love their jobs and say more women should give it a go. Maja Blasch, arborist Maja Blasch said she hit the tools virtually by accident but, in some ways, it was destiny. "I was doing a little bit of work with my dad, who's a horticulturalist and landscaper … and he suggested I try arboriculture," she said. "I've always loved the outdoors and heights really, climbing trees is a bit of a thrill." Now Ms Blasch climbs trees for a living, managing the health of Canberra's trees from above. But while she said she could see a lot from up there, one … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 09:14:56 Sydney scientists are using the marine equivalent of facial recognition software to photograph and track weedy seadragons off the coast of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. They fear the species, which is endemic to Australia, could be dying out in some areas and may need to be reclassified from near threatened to endangered. Selma Klanten, a marine biologist at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), is conducting a two-year study into the species, which is found in waters from Port Stephens, north of Sydney, across the south of the continent including Tasmania and in Western Australia. "They are iconic and they're endemic. Once they're gone, they're gone. And once we lose them, we will never get them back," Dr Klanten said. Dr Klanten has enlisted the help of expert divers and citizen scientists, including Kris O'Keefe. These divers photograph the fish and analyse their colourful flanks. "The software program allows us to map out the markings … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 09:06:41 A woman who used capsicum spray on a Melbourne dancefloor forced the evacuation of the venue after patrons became overwhelmed by the gas, police say. Officers were at the Perseverance Hotel on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, responding to reports of a minor assault just after 1:00am, when people started to complain they were struggling to breathe. About 40 people had to be evacuated from the building, and paramedics treated about 10 people. One woman was taken to hospital. Senior Sergeant Steve Mills said he believed a woman discharged protection spray after being hassled by two men. "Ultimately what we've determined is that a girl might have been approached and hassled a bit by a couple of blokes in the hotel and she's used some sort of personal spray that she's had," he said. "But we don't know that for sure, neither the girl nor the two blokes who were apparently sprayed came forward. "I'm assuming the girl who did it felt genuinely scared. It's important … [Read more...]

Lucasfilm Perhaps you're planning to binge all of the "Star Wars" movies in preparation for the latest, "The Last Jedi," coming later in 2017. But there are so many these days that you have no idea where to start. Do you watch the original trilogy first? Do you watch the prequels first, and then get instantly upset with yourself for watching them because they ruined your unbridled love of "Star Wars"? And where does the standalone "Rogue One" fit into the marathon? And when the new Han Solo spin-off comes out, where will that fit in? It turns out a lot of people have opinions about the right order in which to watch the "Star Wars" movies. Here's the right way to watch the "Star Wars" movies - and why: By watching the original trilogy first, you get to experience the films the same way the rest of the world did. We're assuming you've seen the movies before. But if you're showing them to someone who has been living in a bunker for the past 40 years or if you're showing the … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 08:58:13 A trio of women, who have made the long journey to Broome to make a memorial for their murdered sister, say they fear violence will continue so long as itinerant women are sleeping rough in the Kimberley town. Susan Chamoweera, 36, was killed on a warm wet season night on Male Oval, in the middle of Broome, in February 2015. She died after her boyfriend of several weeks, George Thomas Walker, struck her in the head with a bourbon bottle during a drunken fight, in the kind of alcohol-related assault that is all too common in a region that has some of the worst domestic violence rates in Australia. Early this year her three sisters, Kathryn, Monica and Mary Njamme, gathered at a makeshift memorial erected on an oval power pole, to tell the ABC about their grief. "She'd only met this man for two weeks and the day before she died she told one of the ladies at Centacare that he was already bashing her up," Kathryn said. "But she didn't let us, her sisters, know … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 08:52:05 The first woman to lead Tasmania as premier, Labor's Lara Giddings, has decided to bow out of politics at the next state election. Ms Giddings, 44, will not contest the seat of Franklin, which she first won for Labor in 2002, at the March election next year. At 23, Ms Giddings became the youngest woman elected to an Australian parliament and went on to hold a prominent place at the forefront of state politics for more than two decades. In 2011 she replaced former Tasmanian Labor leader David Barlett after his sudden resignation and held this leadership position until Bryan Green's 2014 takeover. Her decision to quit follows speculation she was considering an exit from politics to make way for a return of former MP and Cabinet minister David O'Byrne, who lost the seat of Franklin in 2014. A Labor spokesman says Ms Giddings is leaving politics for personal reasons and will provide further details of her resignation to media today at Parliament. A key … [Read more...]

Updated May 14, 2017 08:40:29 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is adamant the Gunners' "fighting spirit" has returned after his side completed a third Premier League victory in a week to roar back into contention for a top-four finish. The Gunners looked dead and buried in pursuit of a 21st successive Champions League qualification after a 2-0 loss at rivals Tottenham Hotspur last month but they have climbed to within a point of fourth-placed Liverpool with an impressive 4-1 victory at Stoke City. The victory followed similarly convincing 2-0 wins against Southampton and Manchester United respectively but the Gunners still need Liverpool or Manchester City to drop points before they stand a chance of finishing in the top four. Manchester City beat Leicester City 2-1 at home, a result that lifted Pep Guardiola's troops to third place behind Spurs and above Liverpool, however they are all chasing the minor placings on the standings after Chelsea wrapped up the Premier League title on … [Read more...]

Central Paris will come to a standstill on Sunday for the inauguration of Emmanuel Macron as president of France for a five-year term he overcame the odds to win and which he has said can unite a divided nation. In a first for the world's fifth largest economy that is a founding member of the European Union, the 39 year-old centrist newcomer was unknown to the wider public three years ago and does not belong to any traditional political grouping. The former investment banker will become the youngest postwar French leader and the first to be born after 1958 when President Charles de Gaulle put in place the country's fifth Republic. In the coming parliamentary elections in June he must try to win a parliamentary majority for his start-up Republic on the Move (REM) party which has blown apart traditional French political boundaries. Those who believe that the open borders, closer European ties and business-friendly reforms Macron wants are the key to prosperity and peace were relieved … [Read more...]

By Diana Hayward Posted May 14, 2017 08:30:09 On a day when mothers across the country are being showered with homemade crafts, bouquets of flowers and breakfast in bed, those who have lost their matriarch find today a little tougher. Mother's Day, and the lead up to it, can stir up painful emotions. Canberra father Lach Searle and his two young children are spending another Mother's Day without wife and mother Rebecca McGloughlin, who died two years ago, and the day poses new challenges each year. "This will be our third without Bec," Mr Searle said. "It's different each year, because obviously the kids are growing up and they don't have any memories themselves of what Mother's Day was like with their mother, because they were too little, so it is whatever we really make it." To help navigate a life without their beloved family member, Mr Searle writes letters to his children Tommy and Lottie (Lotts) of stories and memories of their mum, publishing them on his blog, The Daddy … [Read more...]

Children as young as 11 should be considered for weight loss surgery because "conservative" diet and exercise interventions don't work for the severely obese, Australian physicians have been told. Brisbane-based surgeon Dr George Hopkins says desperate parents are screaming out for the surgical intervention yet the Australian hospital system is "un-equipped" to meet their need. Speaking at the Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetist's Annual Scientific Meeting in Brisbane, he implored his colleagues to start a conversation on the 'controversial' issue. "It's been discussed intermittingly in small groups but we need more than that for hospitals to start saying 'lets set this up'. "Logistically our health system as it stands can't deal with this," he said. One in four Australian children aged 2-17 are now either overweight or obese. Dr Hopkins has been performing effective sleeve gastrectomies on adolescents for years and says his patients just keep getting younger. One was an … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 08:17:25 Five years into a violent, emotionally abusive relationship, Laura Timmers reached breaking point. Fearing for the safety of her baby son, she fled the home she shared with her partner. She vividly remembers not being able to take much with her. "It was very spur of the moment thinking, so I didn't originally take a lot of things with me," she said. "A lot of people don't understand how much stress that person is under when they're deciding is it safe to go or is it not safe, and what do I need to take." The Ravenswood resident has joined others in the northern Tasmania suburb to advocate against family violence and find practical ways to reduce its incidence. They are part of a Commonwealth-funded program called Building Safer Communities for Women - What Will it Take, which has been running for 12 months and is coordinated in Tasmania by Colony 47. One of the projects the advocates have undertaken is to create emergency bags for babies and children who … [Read more...]

Posted May 14, 2017 08:17:25 The Chinese Government has opened a two-day summit in the capital Beijing to consolidate its massive global development project called One Belt One Road, or the New Silk Road project. President Xi Jinping will host 28 world leaders and representatives from another 70 countries to sell his hugely ambitious signature project. The plan is to build a vast network of new trade routes across the globe, multiple high-speed rail networks to penetrate Europe, massive ports across Asia and Africa and a series of free-trade zones. Closer to home, it will cement Chinese influence in the Pacific in countries like East Timor, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. China is going to spend up to a trillion dollars on infrastructure projects and hopes to bind more than 65 countries and two thirds of the world's population to its economy. Economists have likened the project to a modern day Marshall Plan - which helped secure the US as the world's superpower after World War II - but … [Read more...]

Photo courtesy of 443 GreenwichInside a four-bedroom loft at 443 Greenwich. It's common practice for high-end condo buildings to tout all kinds of amenities to attract buyers. But 443 Greenwich, a luxury building in the Tribeca neighbourhood of New York, claims to have an entirely different perk: it's apparently "paparazzi-proof." While the building's management can't comment on the identity of its residents, it has been reported that the building's "paparazzi-proof" architectural features - such as its lower-level parking and interior courtyard garden - have proved attractive to high-end clients who value their privacy. Most recently, singer Harry Styles is said to have purchased a $A11.84 million condo in the building, joining rumoured neighbours Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Other big names like Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Reynolds, and Blake Lively have reportedly looked into buying property there. Earlier this year, actor Mike Myers purchased a $A19.92 million loft in the … [Read more...]

Businesses around the world are scrambling to prepare for a renewed cyber attack, convinced that a lull in a computer offensive that has stopped car factories, hospitals, schools and other organisations in around 100 countries is only temporary. The pace of the attack by a destructive virus dubbed WannaCry slowed late on Friday, after the so-called "ransomware" locked up more than 100,000 computers, demanding owners pay to $US300 to $US600 get their data back. "It's paused but it's going to happen again. We absolutely anticipate that this will come back," said Patrick McBride, an executive with cyber-security firm Claroty. Symantec predicted infections so far would cost tens of millions of dollars, mostly from cleaning corporate networks. Ransoms paid so far amount to only tens of thousands of dollars, one analyst said, but he predicted they would rise. Companies rushed to protect Windows systems with patches that Microsoft released last month and on Friday. WannaCry exploited a … [Read more...]

* Pope, President Trump to meet at Vatican on May 24 * Two men differ over immigration, climate change * Francis says keeps open mind, seeks common ground (Adds more quotes, background) By Philip Pullella ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, May 13 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday he would be "sincere" with U.S. President Donald Trump over their sharp differences on subjects such as immigration and climate change when the two hold their first meeting at the Vatican later this month. But the pope also told reporters aboard a plane returning from Portugal that he would keep an open mind and not pass judgement on Trump until first listening to his views at their meeting on May 24. "Even if one thinks differently we have to be very sincere about what each one thinks," Francis said in a typically freewheeling airborne news conference. "Topics will emerge in our conversations. I will say what I think and he will say what he thinks. But I have never wanted to make a judgement without first … [Read more...]

(Adds comments from Chinese premier, details) By Kay Johnson ISLAMABAD May 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan signed new deals with China on Saturday worth nearly $500 million ahead of Beijing's international forum on its "Silk Road" trade and infrastructure initiative for Asia, Africa and Europe, the Pakistani government said. The memorandums of understanding add to $57 billion already pledged for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a network of rail, road and energy infrastructure that is part of the wider Chinese project also known as the Belt and Road initiative, or One Belt, One Road. The deals came as Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the Beijing summit expected to be attended by leaders from at least 29 countries to promote Xi's vision of expanding trade links. Delegates in Beijing will hold a series of sessions on Sunday to discuss the plan in more detail, including trade and finance. Proposed in 2013 by Xi, the project is broad on … [Read more...]

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE May 13 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday he would be "sincere" with U.S. President Donald Trump over their sharp differences on subjects such as immigration and climate change when the two hold their first meeting at the Vatican later this month. But the pope also told reporters aboard a plane returning from Portugal that he would keep an open mind and not pass judgement on Trump until first listening to his views at their meeting on May 24. "Even if one thinks differently we have to be very sincere about what each one thinks," Francis said, adding he hoped to find "an at least partly open door" for dialogue with Trump so that they could contribute to the cause of world peace. Last year, in response to an answer about then-candidate Trump's views on immigration and his intention to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, Francis said a man with such views was "not Christian". Trump and the pope also disagree strongly about climate change. Trump … [Read more...]

(Recasts throughout, adds details on pipeline) MEXICO CITY May 13 (Reuters) - A fire sparked by suspected fuel thieves killed four people and forced Mexico's state oil company Pemex to temporarily halt pumping operations along a pipeline in the country's violent eastern state of Veracruz, the company said on Saturday. Pemex said the fire was brought swiftly under control and none of the four victims found alongside a car near the pipeline were believed to be Pemex workers. The pipeline has a capacity of 73,000 barrels per day and transports gasoline and diesel from Pemex's Minatitlan oil refinery to Mexico City. The incident occurred near the town of El Mango, in a region particularly rife with drug-trafficking. It came about a week after four soldiers and six suspected oil thieves died in a clash in the Mexican state of Puebla, just south of Veracruz. Fuel siphoning is a growing problem for the oil-producing nation and the army has launched an operation against organized criminal … [Read more...]

GENEVA, Ill. (AP) - The Latest on a jail inmate who took a hospital worker hostage in Illinois (all times local):
6:30 p.m.
Authorities say officers have fatally shot an armed jail inmate who had taken a worker hostage at an Illinois hospital.
Kane County Sheriff's Office spokesman Patrick Gengler says a SWAT team quickly moved in to Delnor Hospital in Geneva after negotiations broke down with the inmate Saturday afternoon. Gengler says an officer shot and killed the inmate, whom he identified as 21-year-old Tywon Salters.
Gengler says the female hostage was "extremely emotional and upset," but appeared to be physically OK. Gengler says she was quickly taken to another room in the hospital.
Authorities say the incident began around 12:30 p.m., when the inmate snatched a gun from a correctional officer who was watching him at the hospital about 40 miles west of Chicago.
Gengler says Salters was being held on charges related to a stolen vehicle. Gengler says Salter had been in the … [Read more...]